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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Schools and Health – Models and Innovations

These stories feature model programs and successful rural projects that can serve as a source of ideas and provide lessons others have learned. Some of the projects or programs may no longer be active. Read about the criteria and evidence-base for programs included.

Other Project Examples

South Dakota Harvest of the Month Program

Updated/reviewed May 2023

  • Need: To encourage children to make healthy eating choices through learning and tasting.
  • Intervention: Brief, fun, and informative presentations and tastings for children on over 42 different fruits and vegetables.
  • Results: Participants are exposed to new foods and show more interest in healthy eating.

The Walking Classroom

Updated/reviewed March 2023

  • Need: To increase students' levels of physical activity, engagement in learning, and academic achievement.
  • Intervention: With The Walking Classroom, students take a brisk walk as a group while listening to a kid-friendly, custom-written educational podcast that aligns with the curriculum.
  • Results: Children increase their activity level while learning academic content, building health literacy, and developing healthy lifestyle habits to prevent obesity and improve cognitive function and retention.

It's a Girl Thing: Making Proud Choices

Updated/reviewed February 2023

  • Need: Teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, in young girls were concerns for members of Union Parish, Louisiana.
  • Intervention: Union General Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital, created the program It's a Girl Thing: Making Proud Choices to teach prevention, self-confidence, and personal responsibility to teen girls.
  • Results: Teen pregnancy rates in Union Parish have dropped by 18%, exceeding the program's initial goal of 5%. Graduation rates have also increased the longer girls remain in the program.

Together We Can Be Bully Free

Updated/reviewed February 2023

  • Need: Union Parish, a rural county in Louisiana, was experiencing higher than average suicide rates among youth.
  • Intervention: Union General Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital, started a program to educate students grade 4 through 12 on the negative effects of bullying and how to model positive social behavior.
  • Results: The 3,000+ students trained have learned how to recognize, report, and react to bullying.

Health-e-Schools

funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Updated/reviewed October 2022

  • Need: Rural school children lack proper healthcare resources within the school setting.
  • Intervention: Health-e-Schools provides health services to students via telehealth using video conferencing and special equipment.
  • Results: Health-e-Schools increases access to primary healthcare, increases attendance in the classroom, and decreases the amount of time that parents or guardians must take off of work to bring their child to health-related appointments.

Butte Child Evaluation Center

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed August 2022

  • Need: Before 2000, Butte and southwest Montana had around 1,300 cases of child abuse a year, with only a 20% conviction rate for perpetrators of sexual abuse.
  • Intervention: Multiple agencies in the community came together to address the issue of child abuse by forming the Butte Child Evaluation Center (CEC), a Children's Advocacy Center.
  • Results: During a 3-year grant cycle, over 200 interviews and exams were performed on victims of sexual abuse and the Butte CEC became the first program in Montana to be accredited by the National Children's Alliance.

Fostering Futures in Menominee Nation

Updated/reviewed August 2022

  • Need: Since the late 1800's, trauma caused by historic events have greatly affected the way of life for Menominee Indians living on the Menominee Reservation. Economic, socioeconomic, behavioral health, and physical health issues have risen and are causing direct implications for Menominee youth.
  • Intervention: Through Fostering Futures, clinic, school, and Head Start/Early Head Start staff are trained in administering trauma-informed care and building resilience among children.
  • Results: Behavioral health visits at the Menominee Tribal Clinic have increased, school suspension rates have decreased, and graduation rates have improved from 60% to 94% since 2008.

Club Scrub

Updated/reviewed August 2020

  • Need: Rural Wisconsin communities experience threatened healthcare infrastructure due to workforce shortages.
  • Intervention: The Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, in partnership with the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health, created a youth program to increase awareness of health-related professions known as Club Scrub.
  • Results: Middle-school students attend the program and gain a better understanding of career options in the healthcare industry.

Nelson County School Nurse Program

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed April 2020

  • Need: Low rates of immunization and a lack of knowledge about physical health among school age children in the rural areas of Nelson County, Virginia.
  • Intervention: A School Nurse Program placed a registered nurse in each of the four county public schools to track and encourage immunization compliance, provide health education, and handle students' daily health issues.
  • Results: School-age children are having many of their minor health concerns addressed throughout the day by registered nurses at school. Compliance for childhood immunizations is now extremely high.

The Adolescent Pre-Diabetes Prevention Program

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Added October 2018

  • Need: Prevention of type 2 diabetes in adolescents living in rural parts of Louisiana.
  • Intervention: Through screenings, the Adolescent Pre-Diabetes Prevention Program detects the onset of prediabetes. Through nutrition and physical activity education, the program teaches high school students and staff how to adopt healthy lifestyles.
  • Results: The program has seen an increase in enrollment and continues to see decreases in body weight, body mass index, and A1C levels among participants.

Last Updated: 5/25/2023